Maeda Ai, Natsuki Rio, and Kazama Yuuto
What fascinates the American otaku most about Japanime? There are a myriad of reasons: the CGI, character design, the unthinkable plotlines, music that would make the lyricists and musical score composers that Disney and Don Bluth hire run for the hills, and whether it's 23rd century mecha or 15th century magic, the animators and mangaka push the limits of creativity- and free speech (in this country, anyway). But there is that select few that love anime for all the reasons mentioned above, but their obsession goes a little beyond collecting the videos or DVDs.
They are called seiyuu. What's a seiyuu? The Japanese term for voice actors. You know, those nobody second-rate actors that do voice-overs for commercials and perform your favourite characters on Saturday morning cartoons. Even on your CD-ROMS and Playstation games. But in Japan, a seiyuu is a celebrity. A seiyuu isn't just a voice actor, they are singers, dancers, models, TV, stage, and film actors. They have magazines and forums just dedicated to the voice acting profession and its stars. In Japan they are a constant prescence at various anime-related cons and are so popular that they have to put restrictions on photograph taking and autograph signing. One of the reasons why CD dramas are part of the anime serializing process is that that they still have radio shows, and I'm not talking about Howard Stern people! Ask your grandparents or great-grandparents about what life was like during WWII, and I guarantee they will tell you that they kept up on current events on the warfront or their favourite show on the radio!
Hey ladies, do you know why your favourite daytime dramas are called "soap operas"? Because they all started out as radio shows and their biggest sponsors were companies such as Ajax or Lux- soap manufacturers! But if you still aren't sure as to what the hell I'm talking about, turn on one of your cable channels and watch the reruns of "Remember WENN".
Nowadays with the extreme popularity of Japanime in The States, American voice actors are getting their due recognition. But it's mostly prevalent in the Japanime community, I suspect that's why so many wanna-be and established actors/performers are jumping on the voice-dubbing bandwagon. But being an anime purist (ie. no editing, censoring, and preferences towards subbed titles), I have fallen head-over-heels for quite a few seiyuu: Mitsuishi Kotono, the entire cast of WeiB Kreuz, Kawakami Tomoko, Otsuka Akio, Shibahara Hiyako, and Mochida Maki just to name a few. But since my page is Digimon Adenture-oriented there were only three (in my opinion) seiyuu that made my favourite characters (and couples) stand out: Maeda Ai, Natsuki Rio, and Kazama Yuuto. But you probably know them best as Tachikawa Mimi, Inoue Miyako, and Ishida Yamato.
Profile: Maeda Ai
Born: April 19, 1975
Birthplace: Hyougo
Blood Type: A
Height: 156 cm.
Contracted with: Aoni Productions
Title
Card Captor Sakura: misc. roles
Digimon Adventure: Tachikawa Mimi
Mushrambo: Sanju Rei
Sentimental Journey: Nagakura Emiru
This lady is a true J-pop idol! Although Maeda-sensei has only performed in a few anime serials (that I know of), her mainstay act is singing. On every CD or single that she has been on, her trademark "AiM" has been plastered all over it. Maeda-sensei personifies Mimi-chan perfectly with high-pitched shrieks, too-kawaii-for-her-own-good bubbly giggles, and the ability to light up a room. She started off as a model and her favourite hobby is swimming. Her pet peeves are rude people and insects (I hear that!). My favourite thing about the seiyuu is that you could tell that the voice actor is attractive by their character. Here are a couple of pics of Mimi that have Ai's best features:
Profile: Natsuki Rio
Born: March 5, 1969
Birthplace: Tokyo
Blood Type: A
Height: 158 cm.
Weight:48kgs.
Measurements:80-59-85
Contracted with: Sigma Seven
Title
Aika: White B
Battle Athletess Dai Undoukai: Kanzaki Akari
Bubble Gum Crisis Tokyo 2040: Linna
Dai Undoukai (TV): Kanzaki Akari
Digimon Adventure 02: Inoue Miyako
El Hazard: Jinnai Nanami
Macross 7: Miho
Might Gaine: Audrey
Misutenaide Daisy: Tami
Princess Minerva: Orlin Carrie
SD Gundam Gaiden Seikihei Monogatari: Matilda
"Now where have I heard that voice before?", I often asked myself. Natsuki Rio-sensei is a busy lady! Not to mention one of the marquee names in the voice acting business and has huge following! I first heard her BSC Tokyo 2040 when I borrowed it off a friend of mine and I actually sat there to read the casting credits in order to find out who she was. Always portraying that energetic and headstrong character, it stays true to her actual personae. She has made several appearances at American anime cons and all of the fans agree- she's a blast to talk and hang out with!
Willing to pose for pics and sign autographs, Rio-sensei is very funny and little bit on the wild side. But she's extremely professional and loves her work. But everybody does have their bad day. Seiyuu are encouraged to display a great deal of emotion when acting in the booth with the rest of the cast, and Rio-sensei was driven to tears by one director after 19 takes! She said that he complained she wasn't being emotional enough! Her favourite hobby is watch collecting and has three cats.
Inoue Miyako symbolizes the cute Japanese girl, with a hyperactive lifestyle and fighter's drive. She loves her friends and is of course, a little ditzy (thrown in for good measure). Rio-sensei does an excellent job performing as Miyako-chan. And just in case if you wondered why Miyako is hardly ever seen without her trusty kerchief:
Profile: Kazama Yuuto
Born: September 30
Birthplace: Tokyo
Height: 178 cm.
Weight: 63 kgs.
Blood Type: B
Contracted with: unknown agency
Title
Digimon Adventure: Ishida Yamato
Dr. Rin ni Kiitemite: Tokiwa Takashi*
Boy Meets World (Japanese dub): Eddie*
I've saved the best for last! The sole reason why I fell hard for Yamato-kun- Kazama Yuuto-sama! My outotoo had been on my case to watch Digimon a couple of years back knowing full well that I was anime purist, and didn't like the dubbing-hack-and-paste jobs that Saban was so well known for. I mean COME ON! I can't even watch Power Rangers anymore! I want to hurl every time I even hear the PRTF theme, now that I've seen the sentai they were based on. Sure PRLG and PRLR were pretty good because of the talent- but the crossover video special was HORRENDOUS! Not even Danny Slavin and Amy Miller wanted to stick around for that one!
So, I bit my lip and *patiently* sat through "So It Begins". As usual, I was pissed off at Saban and decided to hit up Anipike to find some info on the Japanese original version. I downloaded season 01's opening, and before Wada Koji could say 'ON MY LOVE', I was hooked! I bought the Best Partner Collection CDs and when track 4 started I froze in my seat. Whoever Ishida Yamato's seiyuu was, he sounded as if he looked hot! I found out that I wasn't alone with all of the ^_^ tags at Megchan's and Digimon Spirit as I was investigating. I clicked on the Abikyoukan link and I wasn't disappointed.
Kazama-sensei is relatively new to the seiyuu scene, and Digimon was his first anime role. Consequently, Ishida Yamato and (in both seasons) Takaishi Takeru were the most popular characters on Digimon. Was it the angst between Kyoudai Ishida, because of their family situation? The parallels of their personalities? Or just the fact that the girls went wild for the sexy new voice matching the bad boy character design, and trying to solve the mystery why Patamon didn't evolve until the ends of both seasons? A militant angel and a cybornetic wolf, yup that's quite a pair! And the reason behind why the final 01 drama CD released focused on them alone. In 02, Yamato now made the transition from lone wolf to a Teen-Age Wolf with three of his mates from Odaiba Gakuen. No longer afraid to show his true colours, Yamato sheds that pensiveness and takes to the stage like a thing possessed. The Teen-Age Wolves single and Ishida Yamato no Ichinichi drama CD continue to fly out of record stores.
Is Kazama-sensei an angsty character himself? In my opinion, a little, yes. Go check out his page and see what he has to say (I suggest you visit Babelfish first). Arrogant? Over confident, maybe. He also has a nice dry wit, especially when it comes to his motorcycle! I don't care what you say, let Jay Leno keep his Harley-Davidson! Nothing beats the sleek Honda Fireblade. Now I know zilch about motorcycles but I went to an auto show once and they were displaying some of the latest motorcycle models. That was the first time I saw a Fireblade. Beautiful. Kazama-sensei has some racing skills, and refers to his bike as his partner. As an added bonus, pics taken of him with his bike before and after a race! He looks KAKKOI in his racing gear!!!!
I do hope he gets his own album deal in the near future, and that he broadens his horizons by playing a villain! He would be a kick-ass bad guy! Until then, I'll have to settle for Dr. Rin ni Kiite Mite, and pray somebody picks it up for fansub production.
*- This info provided by Megchan. Arigato gozaimasu!
I also pray that said seiyuu NEVER come across this page. o.O BUT, if you're like me and love these seiyuu, what a better way to show it than with a banner! I made these banners, so feel free to take them and post them on your site (just give me credit)!
